Vietjet, the Vietnamese low-cost airline, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, to put free high-speed Wi-Fi on its passenger aircraft, according to Tesla North. The outlet says the agreement was exchanged in New York on Wednesday, 23 September, in the presence of Vietnam’s President To Lam and senior business leaders from both countries, citing Vietnam’s state news agency.
Key facts
- Vietjet and its group companies Galaxy Holdings and Galaxy Telecom will work with Starlink to connect the airline’s fleet, Tesla North reports.
- The initial phase covers 120 aircraft: 100 Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 jets plus 20 Airbus A330s.
- Vietjet also plans to equip all future aircraft deliveries with the service, according to the same report.
- The signing came days after Starlink teased the partnership with a gate-to-gate Wi-Fi announcement for Vietjet flights.
- Tesla North describes the deal as the start of a long-term technology relationship between the airline and SpaceX.
- Neither report gives a start date for the first connected flight, and neither discloses the commercial terms.
Why it matters
The Vietjet agreement lands in the middle of what eturbonews describes as a rapid shift in what passengers expect at 35,000 feet. In its August overview of the market, the travel trade outlet wrote that high-speed internet is moving from an airline extra to an expected part of the passenger experience, and that airlines are increasingly asking how free internet can make their loyalty ecosystems more valuable rather than how much they can charge for a connection.
eturbonews reported that more than 40 commercial airlines had announced agreements with Starlink by August 2026 and more than 1,400 commercial aircraft had already been equipped, citing Starlink figures quoted in an industry overview. Those aviation contracts sit inside a satellite internet business that has become the bulk of its parent: Starlink accounted for US$4.3 billion of SpaceX’s US$7.8 billion quarter in the most recent reported period — about 55 cents in every dollar — which is the context in which a 120-aircraft fleet win should be read.
What Vietjet and SpaceX said
Vietjet Chairwoman Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao framed the deal around working, entertainment and keeping in touch with family and friends in the air. “With Starlink, time in the air no longer has to mean time offline,” she said in remarks reported by Tesla North, which added that she called the deal a reflection of the airline’s commitment to innovation.
SpaceX Senior Vice President of Global Business and Government Affairs Tim Hughes said the rollout would build on the service already connecting homes and businesses on the ground in Vietnam, according to the same report. He said SpaceX was thrilled to deliver the connectivity experience to Vietjet and its customers.
The free Wi-Fi playbook
Vietjet joins a group of carriers offering the service at no charge, but “free” is doing different work at different airlines.
Free for everyone versus free for members
Two models are emerging from the reporting, and they point at different business goals. In the first, the connection is genuinely open to every passenger on an equipped aircraft — eturbonews says Emirates does this, while on the aircraft still running the airline’s older connectivity system text-only packages are listed from US$2.99 to US$5.99 depending on flight length, meaning one airline can run two different internet economies at once. In the second, the Wi-Fi is free only once you hand over an email address and join a frequent-flyer programme.
That distinction is the commercially interesting part of this story. A loyalty-gated free tier converts a cost centre into a sign-up funnel: the airline pays for satellite internet capacity and gets member acquisition, purchase history and a logged-in audience for onboard retail in return. A no-strings free tier, by contrast, is a pure brand and fare-competition play — which is the version Vietjet, a low-cost carrier competing on price and perceived value, appears from Tesla North’s description to have chosen.
How the big carriers compare
The terms reported by eturbonews, set side by side:
| Airline | Access model | Scale / timing reported |
|---|---|---|
| Emirates | Free for everyone on Starlink-equipped aircraft; US$2.99–US$5.99 text packages on older-system jets | Two systems in the fleet at once |
| Qatar Airways | First hour free; continued uninterrupted access tied to Privilege Club | Commercial Starlink from 2024; nearly 120 widebodies equipped by January 2026; up to 500 Mbps advertised |
| United Airlines | Complimentary for MileagePlus members | More than 400 aircraft equipped by August 2026 |
| Air France | Free in every cabin via a Flying Blue account | All cabin classes |
| SAS | Free to EuroBonus members | Member-gated |
| airBaltic | Starlink on Airbus A220-300s, up to 250 Mbps | First European airline to introduce Starlink commercially, from February 2025 |
| Lufthansa Group | Free to status customers and Travel ID users regardless of cabin class | Roughly 850 aircraft scheduled by 2029; rollout from the second half of 2026 |
| Vietjet | Free high-speed Wi-Fi, no loyalty condition reported | 120 aircraft in the first phase, plus all future deliveries (Tesla North) |
Read down the middle column and the pattern is clear: the full-service carriers are overwhelmingly attaching free Wi-Fi to a loyalty account, while the two airlines offering it to anyone in the cabin are a premium Gulf carrier and a budget Asian one — opposite ends of the market reaching the same conclusion for opposite reasons.
What nobody is disclosing: the price
The one number missing from every account of this deal is what airlines actually pay. Neither Tesla North nor eturbonews puts a figure on the Vietjet contract, and SpaceX does not publish per-aircraft hardware costs or per-flight service rates for its aviation product the way it lists consumer plans for homes and businesses. The prices that do appear in the reporting are retail-facing ones — the Emirates text-only packages — and they describe the legacy system Starlink is replacing rather than Starlink itself. For readers tracking what the service costs across its other tiers, our guide to Starlink’s aviation service tracks the published pricing and status picture.
A fast-moving year in the cabin
Tesla North placed the Vietjet deal in a streak of commercial aviation wins, noting that Asiana Airlines now offers free Starlink Wi-Fi onboard, that United has brought Starlink to its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, and that Singapore Airlines plans to launch the service in 2027.
Europe’s biggest single rollout
The largest programme on the board is in Europe. eturbonews reported that Lufthansa Group has scheduled roughly 850 aircraft to receive Starlink by 2029 across Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Edelweiss, Discover Airlines, Air Dolomiti, Lufthansa City Airlines and Eurowings, with its first aircraft carrying the newest Starlink product — an Airbus A320neo — preparing to enter passenger service. The group had said the rollout would begin in the second half of 2026 and that the service would be free to status customers and Travel ID users regardless of cabin class. Frontier Airlines in the United States is also preparing for Starlink, with service expected from 2027.
The caveat for passengers
eturbonews cautions that an airline announcing Starlink does not mean every one of its flights is connected — some carriers are flying only a handful of equipped aircraft — and that a last-minute aircraft substitution can turn a promised Starlink flight into a conventional Wi-Fi flight. On a 120-aircraft first phase like Vietjet’s, that gap between the headline and the seat matters until the fleet-wide rollout is finished.
The African gap
No African carrier appears anywhere in either report: the eturbonews roster of airlines operating, installing, testing or publicly committed to Starlink is grouped under North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific only, so for now the nearest connected cabins for travellers from Zimbabwe and the region are the Gulf long-haul operators, Emirates and Qatar Airways. That absence is the thing worth tracking — on the ground the competitive picture in Africa is moving separately, including Amazon Leo’s planned 2027 South Africa launch, and the first African carrier to sign a satellite internet deal will be a genuine news event rather than one more entry on a 40-airline list.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do the first Starlink-equipped Vietjet flights begin?
No start date has been published. Tesla North says the rollout schedule for the first 120 aircraft is one of the next details to watch, alongside whether the free offer extends to every new jet joining the fleet.
What does Starlink’s aviation service cost?
Neither Tesla North nor eturbonews discloses what Vietjet or any other carrier pays SpaceX, and SpaceX does not publish per-aircraft or per-flight pricing for its aviation service the way it publishes consumer plans. The only prices in either report are what passengers see onboard: eturbonews lists text-only packages from US$2.99 to US$5.99 on Emirates aircraft still running the airline’s older system, while Starlink-equipped Emirates jets are free for everyone.
What speeds do airlines advertise on Starlink?
According to eturbonews, Qatar Airways advertises speeds of up to 500 Mbps plus gate-to-gate connectivity where regulations and airport conditions permit. Latvia’s airBaltic says Starlink can provide up to 250 Mbps on its equipped Airbus A220-300s.
If an airline ‘has Starlink’, does every flight have it?
No. eturbonews stresses that an airline saying it has Starlink does not mean every flight is equipped, because some carriers fly only a handful of connected aircraft. It adds that aircraft substitutions can turn a promised Starlink flight into a conventional Wi-Fi flight at the last minute.
Who is competing with Starlink for airline contracts?
eturbonews names Amazon Leo, Viasat and other satellite players as fighting to prevent SpaceX from owning what it calls the connected skies. The same report says more than 40 commercial airlines had announced Starlink agreements by August 2026.
Do any African airlines offer Starlink Wi-Fi?
Neither source names one. The eturbonews roster of carriers operating, installing, testing or publicly committed to Starlink is grouped under North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific only, leaving African carriers absent from the published list as of that August 2026 overview.
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